Athena Hernandez, 11, learned that llamas like T'oma are sheared for their wool, which is used to make clothing and blankets.

“Llamas are always magical for children,” said Lora Crawford of Lora’s Llamas, “they just love them.” Crawford showed a llama and an alpaca to a group of children from Westside Ministries’ day programs on Thursday. The children sat under the shady trees in Columbia Park as they learned facts about the animals. The children asked questions about the animals and learned that alpacas can swim, llamas have toenails not hooves, and every part of a llama is used by people in parts of South America. After the presentation, the kids got the chance to pet T’oma the llama and Ace the alpaca. The event was put together by Mayor John Lazar, who passed out ice cream to the kids. He said that he just wanted to do something for the children at Westside Ministries. Crawford added that children generally enjoy seeing and petting the animals.